Mountain West media days: Predicting the conference order of finish

Since we were unable to make it Mountain West media days this year (one day we will) our staff got together to provide our very own poll projection who will win the Mountain and West divisions, plus also offensive and defensive player of the year.

We have 15 voters for the prediction in the Mountain and West divisions, and then we had just 12 vote for offensive and defensive player of the year.

The talking points surrounding what team will win the division stands true with who the top teams are in each division with Utah State and Boise State leading the pack in the Mountain division. The only surprise is that Colorado State earned a first place vote, but that may not be too much of a surprise as we have a large group of Colorado State writers; however the Rams are talked of being a surprise team.

The West division is more wide open but in our poll it is Fresno State and San Diego State who are running away with that division, and Nevada comes in a distant third, which is quite shocking.

With these results by our staff there would be a rematch of last season's Mountain West title game, but the host would be Utah State and not Fresno State.

For the player of the year votes we had the writers choose just one player as for who they felt is the best player in the league. The offensive player of the year was a run away with Utah State quarterback Chuckie Keeton who captured of 75 percent of the vote.

Offensive player of the year:

1. Chuckie Keeton, QB, Utah State -- Eight votes
2. Garrett Grayson, QB, Colorado State -- Three votes
3. Jay Ajayi, RB, Boise State -- One vote

Defensive player of the year:

1. Derron Smith, DB, Fresno State -- Seven votes
2. Kyler Fackrell, LB, Utah State -- two votes
3. Eddie Yarbrough, DE, Wyoming -- one vote
3. J.J. Whittaker, DB, San Diego State -- one vote
3. B.J. Larsen, DE, Utah State -- one vote